


Nothing Fucks With The Slayer

by abbaquiche



Category: Doom (Video Games)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Canon, Pre-Slash, Vega Denies Having Feelings Because Samuel Taught Him So, basically platonic doomvega, but he's still learning and i tried to depict that, doomguy can sign and grunt sometimes, i started with an idea and i wrote an entire chapter without even coming close to it, more tags to come probably, vega doesn't have a body
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:53:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26328196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbaquiche/pseuds/abbaquiche
Summary: Set a few months before the events of Eternal. Flynn and Vega have settled in with their new life and are now working on upgrading the Praetor suit and restoring the Fortress to working condition… and Slayer's communication skills, of course. He's not the only one who has some issues to solve, though… Expect pre-doomvega and a (kinda half-assed) explanation to why an AI can feel stuff. No idea where this is gonna go, but yknow... hopefully doomvega and also the two bastards figuring out what's wrong with them both at least.
Relationships: Doom Slayer | Doomguy/VEGA
Comments: 9
Kudos: 44





	Nothing Fucks With The Slayer

**Author's Note:**

> hghhhh lemme know what you think pl,,ease,,,,,, my doom blog is s-o-s-from-earth if anyone wants to hmu,,,,,,,,,,,,,

The Sentinel ship was never truly silent. Various systems were running constantly, an ever-present low humming they emitted being the only sound the ship knew in Slayer’s absence. Vega was quiet as well - there wasn’t anyone to talk to at the moment, so he busied himself scanning various files from a data storage Slayer had retrieved for him some time ago.

 _That, or he was simply curious if a hundred-year old hard drive would still be functional, let alone have any sort of data on it left intact,_ he reminded himself as he scanned another text file. He couldn’t deny any possibilities until it was confirmed or denied by the Slayer himself. Perhaps he would ask him when he returns…

A notification popped up. All the text files on the drive had been scanned - books, to be precise. Their metadata indicated they were all written at least a hundred years ago, some dating as far as three centuries back, and collectively covered many different aspects of humanity's existence in that time period - from agriculture to psychology to fiction. Vega made a note to tell the Slayer about them later - perhaps he would be interested in this archive, seeing as how he already had a sizable library in his possession.

Aside from the books and about five thousand corrupted files of various sizes and formats, which took up the majority of the storage, there was a music library. A quick scan identified about 60% of it as corrupted, but the rest was still intact. A more detailed look into the metadata and the structure of the audio revealed it to be of high quality by the standards of when the songs were released. Along with the library was an executable file which turned out to be a music player. Curious to explore its functions as an ordinary user, Vega browsed through the library via the app before pressing the “Randomize” button. The screen shifted to an image with the song’s name and artist beneath it, as well as some buttons that Vega suspected to serve as convenient shortcuts for changing songs.

The image depicted two faces - a male and a female - seemingly smiling. It was almost immediately apparent, though, that those weren’t real humans. Dolls, perhaps? The language wasn’t familiar to him either, but it was clear that the singer was female, rather whispering than singing in the conventional meaning of that word.

The image turned out to be clickable, shifting upwards. Nothing was displayed by the program's UI, however, leading Vega to assume any information on this song was simply missing. He let it play, instead shifting his attention to check Slayer’s location and vitals. Everything was in check - the new upgrades to the configuration of the suit were integrated successfully, to his relief. _Or that would be relief, were you to be human,_ he reminded himself again. Besides, this "mission" wasn’t of the offensive kind - simply to look for some repair bots Vega could use to restore the ship’s condition.  
That's not how he saw it at first though…

__

  
[a few hours earlier.]  


__

_  
_

The Slayer sat slouched over his desk, a lamp illuminating an arrangement of wiring and tubing on the inside of one of the arm pieces of the Praetor suit. Different details and pieces were scattered on the desk, some visibly worn and some looking good as new. His tools were also in a chaotic arrangement, aside from the beaten up soldering iron he was working with. Eventually he finished tinkering, put all the layers of protective material back into place and straightened up, barely flinching as his spine made a hollow and most certainly unpleasant cracking sound.

“You have been working on upgrading the peripheral systems of your Praetor suit for approximately three hours and twenty minutes now. I suggest taking a break, Slayer”, Vega chimed in, switching to the room camera in case of an answer. He observed him huff as he begrudgingly turned the light off and got up to stretch. He then turned to the camera and made some quick, jagged gestures at it.

_“Want… go on a walk.”_

“...I see. I’d suggest visiting a discreet place on Earth. Please wait while I find a fitting location”, Vega responded, doing exactly what he said. His old data archives were lost after his last backup, so it took some time to tap into near-Earth satellites and scan the surface for a fitting place - where Vega could safely form a portal and where there would be no one of disturbance.

After several minutes he spoke again:

"I have compiled a list of locations for you. Would like me to narrow it down with additional criteria?"

The Slayer nodded and responded after a moment:

_"Forest?"_

"There is a forest near what seems to be an abandoned production plant at approximately 63.2 latitude and 65.5 longtitude. Despite the apparent absence of any unwanted witnesses, I suggest you take the necessary precautions - that includes your armor." Too much worry - it's not like you're able to do that.

 _"Sure"_ , Slayer answered, his expression unreadable, and turned to get the aforementioned suit. Before he did that, however, he turned back and signed some more at the camera:

_"You need anything… maybe?"_

Vega was caught off guard by the question. Did _he_ need anything? What could an AI, advanced as Vega might've been, even _need_ , per se? After a few moments of thought ( _only living things think_ , he reminded himself, _in your case it's called processing_ ) he answered:

"While there's no emergent need in any materials, a spare construction bot would be of valuable assistance here. It doesn't have to be in working condition, and it's not absolutely necessary..."

_"If I find one, I'll bring here."_

"Ah- that would be most appreciated!"

Surely the voice synthesis program needed a maintenance scan, as it clearly was getting harder to operate and control. And not just that - his RAM was getting more and more occupied by unnamed processes that served seemingly no purpose. He focused on shutting them down one by one, but that proved to be of little use, as they just kept starting up again. By the time he stopped trying to close them, Slayer was already fully prepared for departure. Vega ran the portal configuration, setting it just outside the factory.

"I've set the portal near the facility. You should be able to send me a signal through the comms system in your helmet when you're ready to go back."

With a nod, Slayer lowered the panel in front of him to get to the portal, but right before stepping through it, he turned around, raising his hands to sign.

 _"No need to…"_ Slayer stood still for a moment, as if trying to find the necessary words, before continuing: _"No need to act like a machine, you. Ok? You're a friend."_

And before Vega could answer, he was gone.

__

  
[now.]  


_  
_

The scan of the data was now complete, save for the music that Vega turned off for now. What remaining knowledge of human culture he still had indicated that music was rarely used as a means to document events, rather serving as an instrument of self-expression, so he wasn't likely to miss any critical information. So instead he focused on resolving that problem with his RAM that he encountered right before Slayer left. He didn't remember any issues like that occurring before - at least not since he woke up in the Fortress, since any previous error logs he had were also lost back on Mars. No matter how many times he shut the strange tasks down, they all came back as if nothing happened. Their function was also not apparent, though they were listed as cognitive processes. No cohesive name, no references, no order. Why did they even appear?

'And why do I keep reminding myself to behave like a machine? My personality module was developed for the very purpose of making AI-human interactions more smooth. Why limit its possibilities? And what did Slayer mean by calling me his friend-?'

[Incoming voice comm: The Slayer.]

Vega put away those ponderings for now, answering the call immediately.

“Hello again. I take it you’re ready to go back?”

_“...”_

Right. He can’t really answer, Vega figured.

“I’ll set up a portal near your location”, he said instead, watching the rift open up in the main room. A quiet grunt on the other side of the comms sufficed as a ‘sure’, and Vega opened the folder with books again.

He can deal with those strange mishaps later, after he and Slayer discuss their findings.


End file.
